As much as this off season has dragged and we have all debated the merits of signing one player or another, things could be much much worse in 2010. This is a rather lengthy post, but it breaks down our priority areas and the free agents that will be available in 2010 to address them. Lets start with taking a look at what's available at catcher:

Once Victor Martinez has his option picked up by the Indians (almost for certain) then what exactly will be left? A 35 year old Bengie Molina? We are beyond thin in the minors at catcher and while there are a couple I like, they aren't anything all that special and still have a lot to prove.

The situation doesn't improve either when you look to change our 2nd basemen in 2010 and we would still need to find a sucker, oops I mean taker for Luis Castillo. Take alook at whats available at that position:

Brian Roberts is it and I would be very suprised if the Orioles let him go. He will more than likely get a new contract before the season ends.. I would have liked to have had taken a shot at Felipe Lopez this season but instead, the Diamondbacks got him for 1 year at $3.5 million. Depending upon the year he has out there, he might be an option next off-season but he would have been a cheaper option had we signed him this season with an option year.

Now onto LF. Here we actually come away with a few halfway decent options but I dont know if it will matter. Maybe our Mets will be ready to feature Fernando Martinez by then but alot of that will depend on his play this season. Here is what we are looking at for LF:

Crawford will definately have his option picked up by the Rays and it wouldnt suprise me to see the A's try and sign Holliday to contract. If our Martinez isn't ready by then and Omar winds up going out to the free agent market, we could possibly be looking at Jason Bay? Another possibility could be right fielder Xavier Nady but it goes downhill from there.

This is going to be an interesting season because what becomes available next year and who we have with expiring contracts (Carlos Delgado) means we could be in for some rather ugly changes next winter. Along with us hoping Martinez is ready for left field by next year, we will be hoping that either Murphy, Evans, or Davis, are ready to man 1st base by next season. Here is whats available for 1st base next off season once Delgado is gone:

The situation looks a little better with starting pitching but alot of these guys will have their options picked up. Diamondbacks and Webb, Lee and the Indians, and Beckett with the Red Sox for sure. If we resign Perez and either Bobby Parnell or Jonathon Niese doesnt step up, we will be in the market for a SP that includes possibly John Lackey and Rich Harden just to name a couple. In any case, here is what is available at SP:

Once you take all this info in, it is easy to see that with as uninspiring as alot might think this offseason has been, at least we did bring in K-Rod and J.J. Putz. Next year could be dragged out even longer with our team having even bigger holes to fill. The platoon in LF between Tatis and Murphy will be 1 year older and possibly Tatis leaving while us needing either Murphy or Evans or possibly Ike Davis to slide in at 1st base. The 2nd base situation will still be the Luis castillo debacle. Our catching will be another year older with Schneider being a free agent and us possibly needing another SP along with having to decide what to do about Putz's $8.5 million dollar option. It is easy to see that trading during the season will become alot more important this year and that things could actually get pretty ugly next offseason.

Thanks to MLBTradeRumors.com for making this information available in one easy spot.